Jul 24 Sabu-chan | さぶちゃん

Style: Shoyu w/ Fried RiceBowl to Crush: 半ちゃんらーめん

This shop’s namesake master, Sabu-chan, apprenticed at Ikyo, another legendary shop once located just nearby. He left Ikyo to open his own place in 1966, and he has been running it ever since.

Stepping into Sabu-chan — more of a shack than a shop — you’ll get the impression that very little has changed throughout the decades. Lord Sabu-chan still mans the kitchen himself, working behind a small L-shaped counters and a few simple stools. Decidedly of the Tokyo old school, he’s often smoking with one hand, while flipping noodles out of a boiling cauldron and into a bowl with the other — all while chatting up his regular customers.

He’s also famous as the inventor of a classic Japanese ramen shop menu option: the cha-han ramen set. A bowl of ramen served with a side of Chinese fried rice, this simple combo is now common in shops across Japan, but Sabu-chan is widely known as the originator. Sabu-chan’s ramen itself is an oily shoyu soup, almost yellow from the copious amounts of chiyu added. Yellow eggy noodles, standard chashu, and cruncy menma – it’s a simple bowl that goes great with a cold beer and side of rice.

A living Tokyo legend, Sabu-chan probably has just a few years left before he hangs it up to let his apprentice take over the reigns in the kitchen — pay respects while you can.